Snoop Dogg Error Brings Romanian Village Fame

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By Marian Chiriac

A small Transylvanian village has unexpectedly been put in the international spotlight after US rapper Snoop Dogg made a mistake on Instagram.

The remote village of Bogata in Romania has become an internet sensation after US rapper Snoop Dogg, who was on tour in Bogota, Colombia, posted a selfie on Instagram but checked in the Romanian hamlet instead by mistake.

Thousands of followers started to ironically congratulate the US artist on choosing to visit Bogata, Romania.

”Good job, Snoop. You know, there is a lot of hemp there,” one comment reads, referring to Snoop Dogg’s past arrest for drug use.

The same comment noted that Bogata is a place where hemp is cultivated for industrial use.

Soon after, a canny Romanian media company launched a website called visitbogata.com, which provides information for anybody looking to book a trip to the village.

“We just wanted to show that if you check into a place in Romania, even by mistake, for sure you can find something special there. Bogata is one of the many wonderful places here,” Silvia Marinescu, from Kinecto agency, told Republic.ro.

Marinescu’s site insists Bogata is one of the best places to chill out in Romania. “Whether you plan a longer vacation in the area or a short break from the hustle and bustle of the city, Bogata awaits you. Bring your tent, sleeping bag, comfortable shoes and get ready for the most chilled weekend you could imagine,” the website says.

The site agrees that while the internet speed in Bogata is not that high, but it is more than enough to upload a selfie. It was referring to a statement by US Democrat contender Bernie Sanders that it was unacceptable that Romanians had faster internet than most Americans.

In the meantime, life is quiet and calm in Bogata. Most of the 2,000 people in the village are not much interested in what it is being said about them on the internet. Most do not know who Snoop Dogg is, either

“I don’t know how this singer – whoever is he – could make such a mistake. Bogota is one thing, Bogata something different,” Ioan, a 61-year-old villager said, according to a report in Pressone.ro magazine.

“Let’s be serious. If he [Snoop Dogg] came here, many people would get scared. They might think he belongs to ISIS. For us, the world starts here and ends just few kilometers away,” another villager called Ana, was quoted as saying, while working in her courtyard.

Balkan Insight

The Balkan Insight (formerly the Balkin Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN) is a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes. BIRN emerged from the Balkan programme of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR, in 2005. The original IWPR Balkans team was mandated to localise that programme and make it sustainable, in light of changing realities in the region and the maturity of the IWPR intervention. Since then, its work in publishing, media training and public debate activities has become synonymous with quality, reliability and impartiality. A fully-independent and local network, it is now developing as an efficient and self-sustainable regional institution to enhance the capacity for journalism that pushes for public debate on European-oriented political and economic reform.

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